This invention relates to an attachment for a hinged ladder, although some embodiments are optionally also mountable to a conventional straight ladder.
In this specification the term "hinged ladder" is to be understood as meaning a free-standing ladder consisting of either a flight of steps and a hinged support, or two flights of steps hinged together.
An object of the invention is to be able to provide a holder or support surface for tools or material which a user of the ladder may require at a convenient position above the level of a top step or top platform of the ladder, or indeed at any convenient position along the length of the ladder. A further object is to be able to provide a holder or support surface which is not liable to upsetting or de-stabilizing the ladder itself.
A ladder attachment comprising a pair of brackets, each adapted for engaging a single limb of a ladder, and a storage compartment which is hingedly connected thereto is described in EP-A-O 173 385.
According to one aspect of the present invention a hinged ladder attachment comprises a pair of brackets each having engagement provisions for sides of both limbs of the hinged ladder below but close to hinging of those limbs, and a platform which is carried or to be carried by the brackets.
More specifically, the invention provides a hinged ladder attachment assembly comprising a pair of brackets, each having spaced apart divergent first and second channel means adapted for engagement around opened limbs of a hinged ladder at respective sides thereof and each having a support portion extending beyond the first channel means in a direction away from the second channel means, a platform capable of being supported by the brackets by being dimensioned to extend across the support portions of both of the brackets, when the latter are mounted on the ladder, and means for securing the platform to both said support portions.
The channel means may be provided as fixed lateral projections from a plate, such projections being of angled cross-section.
In advantageous embodiments of the invention one of the channel means is provided as a fixed lateral projection from a plate while the other is provided as a separate elongate angled profile which is mounted on the plate for pivoted adjustment thereon so that its angle relative to the fixed channel can be varied. In this way, the angle of divergence between the channel means can be matched to the angle adopted between fully opened limbs of any particular hinged step ladder.
In other advantageous embodiments of the invention the bracket is also formed in two parts, the first part comprising a plate having a pair of channel-forming means projecting from respective surfaces thereof and disposed symmetrically back to back, and the second part consisting of a separate channel-forming element which is attachable to either surface of the plate in spaced, divergent relationship with either one of the first mentioned channel forming means. In this way, a single configuration of bracket can be adapted to fit to either side of a hinged ladder, with its support portion for support of the platform always projecting in the same direction. This will avoid the need for production of two different, right and left sided brackets, thus simplifying the manufacturing process and/or enabling use of only a single moulding tool where the bracket is moulded of plastics material.
The invention also provides a ladder attachment assembly comprising a pair of brackets each having spaced apart first and second channel means adapted for engagement around limbs of a ladder at respective sides thereof and each having a support portion extending beyond the first channel means in a direction away from the second channel means, a platform capable of being supported by the brackets, and means for securing the platform to both said support portions, characterised in that the first or second channel means of each bracket is adjustable in position relative to the other channel means of the bracket so that the channel means may selectively be disposed substantially parallel to each other for fitting to parallel limbs of a ladder or divergent from each other for engagement around opened limbs of a hinged ladder.
The other advantageous features of pivotal adjustment of the position of one of the channel means of each bracket and of provision of a third channel means back to back with the fixed channel means, and other general constructional features are all equally possible with this latter type of attachment assembly which can optionally be used on a straight ladder.